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ConNexus:
Instant Messaging for the Enterprise
The project code-named ConNexus is a research prototype of Instant Messaging (IM) tailored
to the needs of enterprise users in the
workplace. ConNexus stands for Contact Nexus, and is
intended to be a central place to manage communications with other
colleagues who may be distributed among remote locations. It includes several components:
- A Contact List made up of a selected list of colleagues for which awareness
information about their activities is provided and through which you can easily establish
contact with them.
- A Contact Toolbar that appears when selecting an entry on
the Contact List. The Toolbar window pops up to give more detailed
information about that person's activities, and gives you access to the
communication channels for him or her.
- IM text chat, an instant messaging text chat window that provides an interface
for gracefully starting and ending chats.
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The ConNexus Contact List (right), shows awareness information for a list of
selected users. The Contact List uses bold to indicate that a person is logged in.
Names that are grayed out indicate that the users are currently not logged in.
The number in parentheses after the name indicates the number of minutes the user
has been idle. When a user is selected, the Contact Toolbar opens to show that user's
current calendar appointment and a collection of ways to get in touch with the user.
The icons, in order, are:
- Start an instant message.
- Start an e-mail compose window.
- Browse the user's calendar.
- Place a phone call (not implemented in ConNexus).
- Start a SunForum desktop conference.
- Open the user's Find Card entry for additional contact information.
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The IM interface of ConNexus is designed to more naturally support starting, maintaining,
and closing conversations. Some of the design features include:
- Character-by-character transmission of text, for more interactivity.
- Grayed-out window background when there is no IM partner in the conversation.
- Leave-taking process that indicates the intent to end the conversation while giving
time for others to raise last-minute issues.
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A report describing the design ideas behind ConNexus is available:
ConNexus: Instant Messaging
for the Workplace (PDF)
Project Status
Since the summer of 1999, we have been using ConNexus among ourselves. Especially with
the 3-hour time difference between between our East and West Coast sites sites, we have
found the awareness information to be very useful. It helps us track when our remote
collaborators come and go from their offices (e.g., at the beginning and end of the day,
for lunch) and helps us coordinate when to make contact.
The design ideas in ConNexus have evolved into our next project
Awarenex, which extends awareness and communication
integration to include mobile devices, such as a wireless Palm, RIM Blackberry, and
cell phones.
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